Dive Brief:
- LiquidStack is rolling out what it calls the “first modular, scalable coolant distribution unit with up to 10 [megawatts] cooling capacity” for data centers, it said today at the Datacloud Global Conference in Cannes, France.
- The GigaModular Coolant Distribution Unit will help data center operators “future-proof” direct-to-chip cooling systems as leading chipmaker NVIDIA rolls out increasingly powerful graphics processing units, LiquidStack says.
- GigaModular CDUs range from 2.5 MW to 10 MW, have 25% lower capex and floor space requirements than traditional CDUs and can operate in ambient temperatures as high as 122 degrees Fahrenheit, according to LiquidStack’s website.
Dive Insight:
Though individual GigaModular CDUs top out at 10 MW, the modular systems can “scale to support hundreds of megawatts across distributed deployments,” LiquidStack says.
“The GigaModular is a platform like no other,” LiquidStack CEO Joe Capes said in a statement. “We designed it to be the only CDU our customers will ever need.”
The GigaModular CDU has fewer components and a less complex design overall thanks to centralized pump and control module architecture, LiquidStack says. With optional skid-mounted design and integrated rails, it’s also designed for easier deployment and maintenance.
Coolant distribution units like the GigaModular pump cooling fluid — typically water-glycol mix or a non-water dielectric fluid — through a network of tubes to individual server racks housing the data center’s chips. Chips sit on a “cold plate” that allows for efficient heat exchange with the fluid as it flows through.
CDUs support direct-to-chip liquid cooling. Some of the most power-hungry data centers use an alternative method, immersion cooling, where server racks sit immersed in dielectric fluid. Immersion cooling comes in two types: single-phase, where the fluid remains a liquid and runs through a heat exchanger to reject server heat; and two-phase, where the fluid boils as it warms and rejects heat through evaporation.
Data center developers and operators are increasingly turning to high-performance liquid cooling as server rack power densities increase. Server racks at cutting-edge AI data centers and high-performance computing facilities consume more than 100 kW of power today and could draw as much as 600 kW by 2027, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang said in March.
Data center planning is more ambitious these days as well. Big technology companies like Microsoft, Amazon and Meta, along with large-scale data center developers and operators Equinix and Compass Datacenters, have designs on gigawatt-scale campuses that could each consume more than 1,000 MW of power.
Last June, for instance, Compass Datacenters said it would build five hyperscale data centers totaling 2.4 million square feet over the next several years on Sears’ 200-acre former corporate campus near Chicago. Earlier this year, two companies announced plans to build up to 4.5 gigawatts of gas-fired power generation to support large-scale data center development in Western Pennsylvania.
LiquidStack will begin quoting orders for GigaModular units in mid-Q1 2026, it says. It’s not clear when the first units will ship to data centers. Company representatives were unable to provide additional information by press time.
